“When Marvel came to me, they seemed to be really interested in my input … And in the various conversations I had with producers, the writer, the director at the time, it was all leading into being very inclusive. It was really exciting conceptually, but it was also exciting in terms of the character that was going to form. And then, for whatever reason, it just went off the rails.” 

“I’m not saying that (the character) would’ve been an out-and-out Garvey-ite. Not that, but just in terms of how this man’s philosophy, his ethos and what was driving him. He was a character who had, very similar to Sinners, created a community, a Black community.”

– Delroy Lindo explains why he decided to exit Marvel’s long-delayed Blade remake that will reportedly feature two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali stepping into the title role Wesley Snipes made famous. The esteemed actor revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he left the vampire-hero reboot because of creative differences around his strong philosophical character who was similar to Pan-Africanist and activist Marcus Garvey. Lindo said the vision of the character had turned in a direction he hadn’t initially signed up for. Since it was first announced in 2019, the Blade reboot has been plagued by delays from the pandemic, industry strikes, and the departure of three high profile directors, Bassam Tariq, Yann Demange, and Cary Fukunaga. Although Marvel Studios has pulled Blade from its 2025 release calendar, president Kevin Feige insists that the studio is committed to Ali’s vision for the character and the reboot will happen. 

However, you can see the incomparable Delroy Lindo, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Saul Williams, Andrene Ward-Hammond, and others in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which is in theaters now.